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The competitions provided by the Midland Counties Football Federation are the bread and butter and provide the basic fare of the season for our teams. However the pulse quickens when the National competitions come around as they give our teams the chance to meet new opposition with the chance of reaching a national final.
Staffordshire have been blessed with two national finals in the past two years, the Under 16 Girls beating Somerset at St Andrews and last season the Under 16 Boys gave us all a white knuckle ride by emulating the girls and beating Greater Manchester in a nailbiting pemalty shootout atthe Ricoh Arena.
This season the Under 14 boys kick off against Lancashire Schools FA on the 4th of November at Queen Elizabeth School Blackburn with a 12-00 noon KO. This is a really tough assignment but the group are very talented and should give a good account of themselves.
On Monday the 6th of November the Under 18 Boys will attempt to go one better than the semi final reached last year and they begin their campaign against Humberside at Stafford Town FC with a 6-30 KO. They would appreciate some support.The Under 16 Boys are next up, again at Stafford Town on Saturday the 11th of November when they entertain Lincolnshire Schools FA with a 2-30 start and an away tie against Cheshire Schools awaiting the winners.
The Under 14 girls travel to Cheshire at a date to be arranged whilst the Under 16 Girls play in a mini league against West Midlands, Shropshire and Worcestershire.
The coaches of the Under 15 Boys were left scratching their heads as to how a team can dominate a game so much and not collect a point, which was the case last night. At an extremely blustery Stafford Town Staffordshire welcomed Derbyshire and having won the toss the skipper took the brave decision to play into the teeth of the gale.
Staffordshire and Derbyshire both played a high pressing game and Staffordshire created two early chances which were not taken, so setting the pattern for the night.Derbyshire led after ten minutes when a long ball carried on the wind was not dealt with and a deep cross was finished at the far post by Declan Gregory. Staffordshire responded really positively when George Weaver turned the ball into his own goal after some neat interplay between Josh Milner and Aiden Braxton Lloyd resulted in a fierce drive from Braxton Lloyd which Weaver deflected past his keeper.
Parity did not last long as Debyshire were in front again with the wind catching a corner from Ted Stevenson and deceiving all ending up in the Staffordshire net. Staffordshire remained composed and were rewarded with an equaliser bundled home by Oliver Whatchorn Rice, retrtning after injury, from a Callum Carter overhead kick.
The second half was dominated by Staffordshire with Anye Fowujah and Adrian Braxton Lloyd pulling the strings. Braxton Lloyd hit the woodwork twice and the Derbyshire keeper made a couple of stunning saves. With their only meaningful attack of the half Sell from Derbyshire fired them in front. It was a lead they would not relinquish and Staffordshire rattled the woodwork three times more and spurned several good chances to salvage a point.
The game finished 3-2 but the spectators saw an outstanding game of County Schools Football played in extremely difficult conditions by two teams whose coaches encouraged them to play the game and a huge anount of credit needs to go to all concerned including the match officials who allowed the game to flow and become such a good spectacle.
The Under 15 Boys are in action against Derbyshire this evening at Stafford Town with a 7-00pm KO. Admission is £3 for adults and £1 concessions. Come along and support the boys if you have any spare time this evening.
They will also be playing again next Monday against Port Vale FC in friendly fixture, again at Stafford Town FC with a 5-45 KO. The coaches will announce the squad for this game after tonight's game.
On the same night the Under 18's will be involved in a game against Port Vale U16's in what will be their final trial before the squad for their forthcoming fixtures in the MCF and the national competitions are announced.
The following boys should report to the ground at 6-00pm for a 7-15pm KO.
1 - Joe Trevor
2 - Tom Degg
3 - Connor Grant
4 - Sam Jessop
5 - Miles Johnson
6 - Tyler Gough
7 - Oliver Marsh
8 - Jamie Weldon
9 - Will Byers
10 - Oliver Coleman
11 - Ed Capewell
12 - David Neligwa
13 - Ethan Cartwright
14 - Brad Sharman
15 - Ethan Wright
16 - Declan Arber
17 - Tommy Wilkinson
18 - Joe Baker
19 - Owen Hall
20 - Jack Weldon
21 - Luke Campbell
22 - Jack Taylor
23 - Connor Sewell
24 Alex Minshull
Players from both squads need to wear school uniform or smart dress, no jeans and training shoes, collar and tie.
Both boys and girls International trials process will be underway by the end of this month. The Under 15 Girls Midland Trials were held at Stafford Town earlier this month and several of the Staffordshire girls were succesful in gaining selection for the region and will move on to the second phase on the 12th of November when the Midlands play the North.
Congratulations go to ;
Freya Gregory Friary
Dolcie Simms Hart
Jenny Higgs Sir Graham Balfour
Lily Jackson Clayton Hall Academy
Phoebe and Caitlin Marston were very close and are on the standby list in case of injury.
The Under 18 Boys trials get under way at Repton Scool on Sunday KO 11-00am.
The Under 15 Boys take on Derbyshire at Stafford Town on Monday 16th of October KO 7-00pm. Admission will be £3 adults and £1 concessions. The coaches have named the following match day squad with the other squad members on standby;
'Following a tight 1-1 draw against Repton the U15 coaches would like to announce the following squad for the game against Derbyshire at Stafford Town on Monday 16tth October. All players should be aware that they gave an excellent account of themselves on Saturday and it has been extremely tough to shorten the squad to just 16 players for Mondays game. It is also worth noting that this will not be a permanent 16 as things will change for upcoming fixtures based on players form/availability.'
Luke Kelly
Jordan Clarke
Anye Fowujah
Charlie Pye
Callum Carter
Finlay Ballantyne
Sonny Bates
Conor Lawton
Aidan Braxton Lloyd
Rhys Latocha
Jack Brammer
Josh Milner
Jack Miles
Brandon Oakley
Harrison Davies
Elliot Tibbs
All players should report to the ground as near to 6-00pm as possible and the usual dress code applies.
The boys named below have been selected as part of the provisional squad for the upcoming season.
There will be a fixture against Port Vale FC on the 23rd of October at Stafford Town FC. Some players will be involved in Midlands trials the day before so the manager will be able look at all players between the two games. Details of the games will be posted next week.
Goalkeepers:
1 - Joe Trevor
2 - Tom Degg
3 - Connor Grant
4 - Sam Jessop
5 - Miles Johnson
6 - Tyler Gough
7 - Oliver Marsh
8 - Jamie Weldon
9 - Will Byers
10 - Owen Bradbury
11 - Ed Capewell
12 - David Neligwa
13 - Ethan Cartwright
14 - Brad Sharman
15 - Ethan Wright
16 - Declan Arber
17 - Tommy Wilkinson
18 - Joe Baker
19 - Owen Hall
20 - Jack Weldon
21 - Luke Campbell
22 - Jack Taylor
23 - Connor Sewell
24 Alex Minshull
The Under 14, 15 and sixteen sides met Repton School in the Annual Fixture which acts as a final trial for the coaches to settle on their squads.
The Under 14 side played very well and ran out winners by 4-1 and looked very promising with the coaches very pleased at what they had seen. The Under 15's also performed very well and but for a number of missed chances and the concession of a goal in added time they would have started with a victory but the game ended all square at 1-1.
The Under 16'splaying the first XI put in a very strong performance and came away with a 4-4 draw and led 4-2 with less than 5 minutes on the clock. The coaches were pleased with many aspects of their performance and hope that the win against Warwickshire and this drawwill help them with confidnce for the forthcoming matches.They sent the match report below.
Staffs U16 Boys took on theRepton U18 first eleven on the big pitch at Repton and took a little time to settle and to match the extra physicality of the senior team. tTe boys defended resolutely however and despite the setback of going a goal behind they equalised just before half time through Max Chimenes after great work by Liam Hickson.Repton were back in front almost from the restart with a penalty but back came Staffs to level through Liam Hickson following a cross by Junior O’Callaghan. A Charlie Drain free kick was then forced home by Luke Bourne to put Staffs 3-2 ahead. Repton responded and the home side were awarded a second penalty for a contentious handball. The resulting spot kick was superbly saved by Brad Clarkson. This spurred on the Staffs boys and Lewis Salmon volleyed in following another great run and cross by Junior O’Callaghan.
As the second half wore on Staffs began to tire from the sheer effort they had put in and Repton scored a good goal to make it 4-3. Staffs had a couple of great chances to extend their lead but the final goal of the day came just before the final whistle for Repton, their number 11 who had previously represented Spartak Moscow curling in a glorious free kick to level the match. This was a wonderful effort by the Staffs boys and they can take great heart from the performance.
Final Score Repton U18’s 4 Staffs U16’s 4
The Under 14's play Warwickshire at Rugby Town Juniors tomorrow night in their first MCF competition game and then will travel to Lancashire on the 4th of November for the first round of the national cup. The squad for the game is,
Kyle Curtis
George Lenton
Danny Sanders (C)
Ben Arden
Huw Emery
Lucas Yeomans (3rd Trial)
Fletcher Cotton
Charlie Pearsall
Harry Buzzard
Liam Steele
Jake Finney
Charlie Finney
Morgan Russell
Jack Thomas
Callum Niven
Tom Hinton
All other squad members are on standby.
The Under 15's will next be in action on the 16th of October when they take on Derbyshire Under 15's in their first MCF fixture.
The U16 team manager sends the following brief report about their fine victory at leamington last night.
This week sees the County programme for our representative teams get underway. The Under 16 Boys take on Warwickshire at Leamington FC on Wednesday the 4th of October with a 7-00pm KO. The team mangement are convinced that they have a strong squad and they will bid to emulate the exploits of last seasons boys who were national champions.
They will then be in action on Saturday against Repton School first XI and the Under 14 and Under 15 squads will join them for fixtures against their Repton counterparts. All three matches KO at 2-15 pm and boys are asked to meet their team managers at the swimming pool car park.
The postcode for Satnav purposes is'DE65 6FH
All players named in the Under 15 and 16 squads should report as the games are being used to prepare teams for the competitive programme that lies ahead. The Under 14 boys have already been informed and confirmed for the game.
On Monday te U14 and 16 girls play Manchester on Monday the 9th at Stafford Town FC.
The Under 14 and U 16 girls meet Greater Manchester on Monday 9th of October at Stafford Town FC. The U14 girls will KO at 5-45 whilst the Under 16's will go at 7-00pm. The U14's should meet as near to 5 as possible and the Under 16,s at 6-00pm. The usual dress code applies, school uniform please.
County ties will be available for purchase after the games.
The squads are named below and parents are asked to confirm availability to Julie, who will have sent a confirmatory e mail , at chasejewels28@hotmail.com
There will be an admission charge of £3 adults and £1 concessions. Please remember that entrance to the ground is now via Fairway and not Riverway as in past seasons.
Greater Manchester School's have pulled out of Monday's fixture as they got the dates wrong. As Staffordshire are very keen to playa fixture the games have been re-arranged for the 9th of October with the same timings dependant upon the availability of the coaches.
This issue was only discovered through twitter and SSFA are completely blameless and not a little put out.
Apologies for any inconveniences caused and more details to follow.
The following players have been selected for the first competitive match of the season against Warwickshire Schools on Wedenesday 4th of October at Leamington FC with a 7-00pm KO.
Players should confirm their availability with match co-ordinator Mark Warren at warrenmark7@btinternet.com
All 22 players in the squad are invited to play in the annual fiture against Repton on Saturday the 7th of October KO 2-15 pm.
Sam Edmunds
George Hill
Anthony Sheldon
Kedanie Nugent
Connor Taylor
Luke Bourne
Cael McDonald
Adam Taylor
Alex Hallchurch
Hayden Campbell
Mason Ward
Christian Blanchette
Max Chimenes
Lucas Burnett
Liam Hickson
Lewis Salmon
The two girls team kick off their season with an attractive home firiendly fixture against Greater Mancheste on Monday the 2nd of October at Stafford Town FC. The U14 girls will kick off at 5-45pm and the under 16 Girls at 7-00pm. These games will provide perfect preparation for the oncoming season where the Under 14 Girls will be defending theur Midland Counties title whilst the Under 16 Girls will use it for preparation for the national competition.
Admission will be £3 for adults and £1 concessions and.parents are remided that the entrance to the ground is now on Fairway and not Riverway.
The squads will be published later today.
This information was published on the Staffordshire Schools twitter account. As the person who posts on the website apologies for the delay but a medical emergency involving a long stay in hospital is the reason for the delay. Sometimes football has to come second.
The coaches are very grateful to all the boys who trialled and for the support of the parents. The following provisional squad have been invited to represent Staffordshire for the forthcoming season Can all players respond to match co-ordinator Mark Warren with their parental e mail and mobile telephone number school attended. If you were in the squad last season this is not necessary unless there has been a changr in circumstances. Contact warrenmark7@btinternet.com
Jordan Clarke
Luke Kelly
Callum Carter
Anye Fowujah
Jack Taylor
Elliot Tibbs
Finlay Ballantyne
Oliver Watchorn Rice
Louie Inskip
Sonny Bates
Jack Brammer
Aidan Braxton Lloyd
Tom Nicholls
Rhys Latocha
Connor Lawton
George Yarwood
Josh Milner
Brandon Oakley
Jack Miles
Charlie Pye
Lewis Rowley
Harrison Davies
The boys named below have been selected to represent Staffordshir SFA Under 16's for the forthcoming season. The coaches have said how difficult it was to make the final cut and tryin to get the balance of the squad has proved particularly difficult.The Association wish to thank all who trialled and wish them well for the forthcoming season.
All boys selected are asked to make contact with the U16 match co-ordinator Mark Warren to furnish him with details of parents e mail, mobile telephone number, school attended. Boys who played last year do not need to do this unless there has been a change of information
warrenmark7@btinternet.com
As the season fast approaches and the final trials are organised it is the time of year when decisions are made by parents as to which teams their sons or daughters should play. As ever the most talented players are sought by all but football academies and RTC's put undue pressure on parents to prevent their offspring playing in any other form of football.
A reality check should be made and a book written by the sportswriter of the year NO HUNGER in PARADISE should be compulsory reading for players parents and coaches. It describes the extraordinary lengths that some parents go to try and ensure that their son/daughter is one of the chosen few and Staffordshire Schools FA have permission from the author to put extracts on the website.
However as the person who posts on the website and with 47 years experience of dealing with clubs parents scouts and agents the view is somewhat jaundiced. Last year only two clubs in the premiere league were unable to record the fact that not one player from their academy set up over the previous seven or eight years had any minutes on the pitch for the first team, Stoke City and Burnley, two of the worst culprits in discouraging players from playing elsewhere.
Joe Sbarra and Ben Fox are in the Burton Albion first team squad at 18 and 19 yet played almost every minute of every county game over a three year period. Ryan Giggs played for Greater Manchester, David Beckham for Essex, Alan Shearer for Northumberland and what harm did they come to. Huddersfield and Brentford are considering closing their academies as they do not give value for money.
When your raison detre is to produce young players capable of playing at the highest level then how can an academy which has not produced one player for first team football in the past five or six years be worth the money spent on it and what monitoring goes on.
If it was a school then Ofsted would b putting the establishment into special measures.
We want our best players to have the best coaching and opportunities but not at the expense of their personal and social development and the opportunity to play with their peers.Please read the recommended book it is a real eye opener.
There will be extracts on this website in the coming weeks.
The contact function on the website is still causing problems and no information is coming to the website which means that communication and information is static. The e mail address dansam@mail.com is also putting all communications into spam and is not allowing the e mails to be opened.
Until the problems are resolved it is imperative that all communication by e mail uses the e mail address below which has bee specifically set up for this purpose.
Anyone who has sent an e mail in the last 10 days is asked to resend.
Apologies for the inconvenience but this is completely out of the control of the School's FA and the guy behind the website is working very hard to resolve the issue.
staffordshiresfasec@gmail.com
Staffordshire have been handed a mixed bag of draws. The Under 14 boys probably face the stiffest task with an away tie to Lancashire and if they were to negotiate that then they will have a home tie against either Lincolnshire or Bedfordshire.
Their female counterparts, the Under 14 Girls, also have an away day when they will face near neighbours Cheshire and the reward for a victory will be a home tie against West Midlands or Inner London.
The Under 16 boys have the unenviable task of trying to retain the national Cup but at least they do kick off with a home tie against Lincolnshire School's and if they progress then they will face Cheshire School's again with at home.
The Under 18 boys who were semi finalists last year, will have an extremely tough task to beat Humberside in Round 1 with the winners playing either North Yorkshire or Greater Manchester.
The Under 16 girls go through a qualifying process of a mini league and will have to negotiate a passage aginst Worcestershire, West Midlands and Shropshire with the winners of the league going forward to the quarter finals.
Their is no competition for Under 15 boys as the premiere competition in this age group is the district competition, the ESFA Trophy.
Following huge deliberation, the following boys have been selected for T2. The standard at the trials this year was exceptional, and the coaches wish to thank all who attended. We sincerely hope that those that have missed out this time will return for next year's trials - as last year's U16 National Champions showed, what a difference a year can make!
Ben Arden – Clayton Hall
Harry Baines – Rawlett
Theo Baker – Robert Sutton
Harvey Bannister-Smith – BWH
Kurt Booth – Endon
Scott Bowden – Ormiston
James Bowler – St John Fisher
Jack Bristoe – Walton
Harry Buzzard – EDA
Jake Cartwright – Hart
Jenson Cooper – De Ferrers
Fletcher Cotton – Trentham
Jake Degville – EDA
Charlie Finney – STB
Louis Henson – De Ferrers
Tom Hinton – St Edwards
Charlie Hornby – BWH
George Kay – Blythe Bridge
Mat Kilkenny – BWH
Will Lloyd – St Joseph’s
Cameron Maxwell – EDA
Sam Mellor – Hart
Joe Morley – Hart
Brandon Newell – Ormiston
Charlie Pearsall – John Taylor
Martin Riess – John Taylor
Morgan Russell – EDA
Danny Sanders – Trentham
Ethan Scutt – Walton
Finlay Taylor – Rawlett
Jack Thomas – Rawlett
Lucas Yeomans – John Taylor
Louie Malin – Landau Forte
George Lenton – Landau Forte
Jack Walker – Kingsmead
James Sutton - ?
Oliver Unwin - ?
Finley Sims - ?
Hugh Emery – De Ferrers
Kyle Curtis - ?
Josh Palmer – Thistley Hough
Jake Finney – Endon
Callum Niven – John Taylor
Hayden Brown – Cannock Chase
Details of time and venue will be published laterTheclosing date for the competitions is fast approaching and the need to get thei nformation of draws out to schools is so important as the time lines for completion of the competitions is tight.
There are still just under 50% of our schools who enter the competitions which give youngsters the opportunity to play against schools they would not normally meet.
The following schools have entered teams so far:
| Haywood Academy |
| Wolgarston |
| Landau Forte Amington |
| Stoke VI College |
| Chesterton CC |
| Robert Sutton |
| JCB Academy |
| De Ferrers Academy |
| Ormiston Horizon Academy |
| Blessed William Howard |
| Cardinal Griffin |
| Windsor Park |
| Perton Middle |
| Oldfields Hall |
| Rawlett |
| EDA |
| St John Fisher |
| John Taylor Academy |
| King EdwardVI Lichfield |
| Walton HS |
| Friary |
| The Hart |
| Alleynes Academy |
| Madeley HS |
| Biddulph HS |
| Alleynes Uttoxeter |
| Sir Graham Balfour |
| Moorside |
| Repton |
| Clayton HallAcademy |
| Kingsmead |
| Endon HS |
| Cheadle Academy |
| Sir Thomas Boughy |
| Ryecroft |
| Painsley |
| Paulet |
| Discovery Academy |
We thank them for their suppport.
The first trials nomination forms for next seasons County teams have gone out to schools. All players who have been nominated by their schools and the players who represented Staffordshire last season will be invited to the trials.
The dates for the trials are;
Monday 10th July 4-30 till 6-15 Under 14 Girls
Monday 10th July 6-15 till 8-00 Under 16 Girls
Friday 14th July 4-30 till 6-15 Under 15 Boys
Friday 14th July 6-15 till 8-0 Under 14 Boys
Monday 17th July 4-30 till 6-15 Under 16 Boys
Monday 17th July 6-15 till 8-00 Under 18 Boys.
All are at Stafford Town FC and players should bring footwear for 3G.
Players should come ready changed and bring water and appropriate clothing for the weather. Players nominate will be sent an information sheet which must be brought to the trials.
Last year Staffordshire side won a national championship, two midland counties titles and played in 3 other semi finals.
County football is a really positive experience for boys and girls .
The entrance to Stafford Town FC has changed and instead of coming in from Riverway the entrance is now via Fairway.
Staffordshire School's FA's County sides had unprecedented success last season lifting three trophies, one national and two regional as well as reaching three semi finals. The players did the Association proud and the journey starts all over again in July when the first trials will be held.
Dates and venues, nomination forms and information will be sent out to schools in the next 10 days or so. There are opportunities for the most talented players to represent their County and play at an excellent level on good grounds and in a controlled disciplined environment.
It is hoped that schools will nominate their best players and that all schools will consider sending players ,as currently only about 60% of schools make nominations, which means that some players miss the chance to play county football. Last years national champions the Under 16 Boys had five players in their debut season so each team is selected on merit and not on past performance.
The north of the County is an area where there is the largest population and urban area but the smallest number of nominating schools.
County Football is a fantastic experience and one which should be enjoyed if your son or daughter is talened enough.
Details will be posted here in due course.
The Association will be running a competition for Primary Schools in the 17-18 season. The secondary competitions have proved to be very successful and the 9 v 9 Cup compettion will begin in September. Entry forms will go out in the next week or so and the final of the competition will be at St Geroges Park in April.
Staffordshire School's FA have received some funding to try and establish this competition and so for the first year there will be no entry fee. The number of entrants will also determine the format but it is hoped that it may be big enough to be in a similiar format to the other competitions.
@staffsschoolsfa will allow all to follow what is going on and will supplement the information available on the website.
Follow the account which is being run by Under 15 team Manager Bailey Evans.